Is it, as President Reagan's re-election commercial said, "morning in America"? Back then it was, but not anymore; it is economic evening in America as our nation's spending, government programs and deficits balloon. The federal deficit this fiscal year will be $1.6 trillion, or about 10.6% of gross domestic product.
Weather-wise it has been a very cold January, and politically the Scott Brown Senate victory has chilled Washington even further Democrats. But if the Democratic economic policies continue nevertheless, this year will be nothing like the bitter economic January we will be living in a year from now.
Al Gore said the other week that climate change is "a principle in physics. It's like gravity. It exists." Sarah Palin agreed that "climate change is like gravity," but added a better conclusion: Each is "a naturally occurring phenomenon that existed long before, and will exist long after, any governmental attempts to affect it."
Elections matter. They are sometimes governed by voters' passion; they sometimes change the course the country is following (as in 2008); and sometimes, like earlier this month, they fire warning shots across the bow of our ship of state.
Congress should consider the costs before passing "cap and trade."
President Obama addressed Congress two weeks ago on the issue of health care, and on the same day an Associated Press GfK poll showed that the proportion of Americans who strongly approve of the way he is doing his job has fallen from 41% in December to 24% now. And the percentage of people who strongly disapprove of his performance has risen from 6% to 35%.
The Treasury reports that our country's federal debt has doubled in nine years, rising steadily, year by year, to $10.72 trillion from $5.67 trillion in 2000. Our deficit for the current year fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, is expected to total $1.8 trillion, four times last year's figure, leaving us with a federal debt of $38,500 for every U.S. resident.
The fresh news about Washington–the White House and Congress–is that things are not going very well. A new president in full command of public-policy matters is having problems, from health care to taxes to massive federal spending and now to the Waxman-Markey bill, one of the oddest and most far-reaching pieces of legislation advocated by the new administration.
Two months ago this column offered an analysis of the Waxman-Markey global warming bill, its enormous cost and its practical impossibilities.
The Republican Party needs serious rejuvenation. Since Ronald Reagan left the presidency in 1989 and Newt Gingrich left the House in 1999, the Republican Party has been in decline. Between 2006 and 2009 it slid from a 55-member Senate majority to a minority of just 40. In 2005 the Republicans controlled the House, 232-203; today the Democratic majority is 257-178. And of course there was a Republican president for eight years; now there is a Democratic one for at least four.
If Americans don't start paying attention to what Congress is up to, our nation's energy policy may seriously change for the worse. A bill styled the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sponsored by Democrats Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, soon goes before the House. The enactment of laws to combat global warming is an established priority of the new administration and Congress, and their impact on the lives and opportunities of America's people would be substantial and detrimental.
What do Delaware and California have in common? Not much: One is very small, one very large, but more important they have over time followed very different economic policies that …
By comparison with what's to come, $790 billion is small change.
Last month Barack Obama became the new president of the United States, a president with a different set of beliefs and perspective about how our country should, function, change and–hopefully–prosper. The last president with such vision (although from a different perspective) was Ronald Reagan, who according to most scholarly surveys was one of the best presidents in America's history.
Article I of the Constitution gives Congress broad public policy powers, and Article II defines those of the president. Congress fully understands that its constitutional powers are more or less …
Economist David M. Smick's recent book, "The World Is Curved," shows that during the past quarter-century we have had a global "golden age of wealth creation and poverty reduction never …
One thing we can count on from our newly elected president is fresh ideas, some that were campaigned on and others that will be at the top of the president's …
Six weeks ago John McCain was leading Mr. Obama. But according to RealClearPolitics, as of yesterday Mr. Obama led in the national polls by just under 8% and in the …
Energy is essential in America, and 40% of what we use comes from oil and 23% from natural gas. That comes to about 21 million barrels of oil and 64 …
America's first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992. Sixteen years later, there are 4,128 charter schools educating 1.24 million students in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Another …
"I have come to the conclusion, that one useless man is a Disgrace, two are a law firm and three or more are called a Congress."–John Adams, "1776" Click here …
This election is notable in many ways. For the first time since 1952, neither the president nor the vice president will be his party's presidential nominee. For the first time …
Nine months from now, the 44th president will be inaugurated. Looking at the debates, votes cast and money raised in this year's presidential primary races, the next president may not …
As the Democratic presidential campaign marches on, its most alarming public policy issue is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's antitrade advocacy. As liberal leaders, they are of course for higher …
Rarely in Washington does the president get to propose legislation that Congress is required to fast track. Such an opportunity exists right now, and it pertains to the most serious …